President Nixon ensured no harm was done to the swimming pool (seen here during the Kennedy administration) when it was decked over to provide greatly expanded space in the West Colonnade for the White House press corps in 1970. Work was interrupted in late 1969 by the discovery of the underground rooms from Thomas Jefferson’s time and their subsequent excavation.

This photograph depicts the White House indoor swimming pool as it appeared during the administration of President John F. Kennedy. The mural illustrating the U.S. Virgin Islands was painted by Bernard Lamotte and installed in the White House in 1962.